Ella's Pirate Party

This post is a little late since life gets in the way of documenting things sometimes! For Ella's 3rd Birthday she requested a Pirate Party. That's right, not a princess party or the oh so popular Frozen party, a skull and crossbones, eye patches, and hooks Pirate Party. Let them be who they are! So here are some photos from Ella's Pirate Party.

I made a fabric banner with pink, black, and pink skull fabric. I also made her a skirt to go with the theme that is somewhat piratey. She wanted pink...which is apparently limiting! We had a few printables from Etsy and "themed" food also including a pirate ship cake that I sculpted myself. It was really fun to come up with pirate things to add and the kids had a great time on a treasure hunt where the clues were shapes and colors rather than words or riddles since most of the children couldn't read. They even did the hunt several times over just because it was so fun for them!

She had a wonderful time!

Siblings

When we decided to have another child I had these sweet visions of my children playing together in joyful giggles. Granted my children are still  young, but these joyful giggles do happen but not as much as "I want to be alone!" "No baby, that's mine" or "That's not for babies!" Only one of them talks...so oh poor me when they can both argue.

Despite this very fun sibling rivalry experience, there are some fun times too. I take photos of Charlotte on the 5th of every month and now Ella demands to be in them also, which is fun and a little frustrating as are most things with a toddler. I want to share some of these weird goofy moments of Ella demanding to be in the photos too because I think they show a glimpse into sibling life that is often forgotten in the hair pulling, door slamming, and oh so fun pushing over.

And two of my favorites that just happened:

I know that when I look back I will think that these were the best of times and wish I could go back. Right now I don't really feel that way since I'm exhausted, sore, and would kill for a hot cup of coffee rather than my luke warm random gulps. They are only little once...which is both a blessing and a curse.

My Lake Cabin Memories

When I was growing up I was blessed. We had two lake cabins to go to and so our summers were filled with incredible water, sun, and family. It was wonderful. Moving to the Seattle area and far from my family and our lakes has been hard. It is hard that my kids aren't growing up around their family and also around water...well water that can actually go in because we can afford or know people who car afford beach access.

This past July we went to our cabins with both girls for the first time. I wasn't really sure how it was going to go because Ella hasn't been around a lot of water and Charlotte has been, well a baby I guess. Ella took to the water like a fish and didn't want to come out. I had visions of me and my cousin Sean standing in the water with our teeth chattering and my Grandma Rita laughing at us and telling us to come out and warm up. That was my child this time. It is crazy how life leads you full circle. My memories and love of the lake seem to have been bred into my child. She automatically loved her cousins and the water and the boat and pretty much everything. The kid that hates to get dirty was covered in grime by the time we went to bed and she loved every second of it. It is a magic place where time and problems melt away. You can sit for hours and not realize that you haven't done anything.

I want to share some photos of Ella at our lake cabin. The same lake cabin where I learned to swim, ate way too many s'mores, watched fireworks, got lost in the forest, stepped on a bees nest and survived, played way too much in the water, and learned how to make pancakes. It was where my Grandma and Grandpa taught me about slowing down and washing your feet before entering the cabin. Where we grew and learned as children, then teens, and now as adults. The process starts all over again with our children and friendships with family are created. It is special and real and magical and there is no place in the world quite like it.

The Magic of Sisters

When I found out I was having a girl both times I had several weeks of freaking out. You see, while I am a girl myself, I was scared of the bows, dolls, and later the make-up and dating and all of the other things that coming with girls! When I found out I was having TWO girls the fears only multiplied and I was worried that would hate each other, because let's be honest girls can be nasty! Now that I have been in the trenches for six months I can say that my fears were a little crazy. These two love each other! Like a love so deep that I kind of am sad I didn't have a sister! I know they are still little and the fights and hair pulling will come sooner than I know it, but there are these moments where I can see their little souls are so entangled with each other that they will have a bond that only they will understand.

I want to share this video that makes my heart melt. Charlotte was crying and Ella went and pushed her on the swing and sang her a song. Charlotte is so happy and content and Ella is deeply in love with her. When people ask me about whether they should have more than one child, I always tell them yes because of these moments. Moments where you see that there is a love that no one else can understand. A moment where you realize that they together are learning how to love and share and care for another person. There isn't anything else like sisters. There just isn't.

Potty Training

I feel like this is the phase I have been dreading the most - Potty Training. I purposefully didn't get a puppy when we were looking at a dog because I didn't want to potty train. Needless to say you can't really skip over from baby to fully potty trained child so I knew it was coming.

How did I know? Well Ella loved "pretending" to go potty on her potty chair (which is a huge improvement from her "pretending" to barf in it to copy pregnant mommy), and she also had been telling us when she needed a new diaper. Go figure, my 27 month old was ready when I had a two month old that was also very needy.

We used the 3 Day Potty Training method that comes in an ebook. It was intense and the lady was kind of scary with her "rules" that she demanded you do. She sounds like a wacko to be honest, but it totally works! Ella basically controlled the whole process and now goes mostly without accidents. I say mostly because sometimes playing is WAY more fun that running the potty. Also she refuses to go on a big potty or in public. Hooray. But at home and at day care we are diaper free! Such a big girl!

I'm mostly proud of how fast she got it. In one day she figured it out and also figured out how to get her reward multiple times by only going a little bit and then heading back in for round two a few minutes later. Her parents may be suckers...

I highly recommend this method if you have a child that can talk, expresses when they need or have gone in their diaper, and that are awesome like my child!

And then there were four...

Welcome to the world, Charlotte Jean!

We became a family of four on November 5, 2013 at 12:21am when our sweet Charlotte Jean was born. She was 7lbs 10oz and 20 inches, also known as a big baby! We were told my whole pregnancy that she would be small but she proved them wrong! She is anything but small, she is a big and beautiful personality that has the lungs to let you know what she wants.

Here is Charlotte's birth story for those of you who like birth stories (because I love them!):

I had a doctor's appointment the morning of November 4th and the doctor had said I was only 4 cms and probably wouldn't go another week, but scheduled my induction for 11/12/2013 just "in case" which scared me because that meant a whole other week of being pregnant. I had been very uncomfortable and still was battling feeling nauseous and having major pain from a split pelvis. We came home and decided to call my mom to come over since she had several days off in a row and that way we would have someone here to watch Ella. My mom left work early and made the drive from Spokane.

I had a few pains and contractions, but nothing too exciting the rest of the day. Then my mom got here and things started to get more painful. After the contractions became closer together we decided to head in to the hospital. It was about 8pm and I was watching the Monday Night Football game of the Giants and Packers and was a little upset that I couldn't finish he game. Especially because Aaron Rogers got hurt so it was an interesting game!

We got the hospital and they admitted me. The contractions got stronger and I requested to sit in the bathtub the same as I did with Ella. I didn't want drugs and just wanted to go as natural as possible. It got harder and harder and I finally told Brad that I couldn't do it anymore. I felt like no one was listening to me as I was saying I couldn't do it...and then I started pushing without me even knowing it. The nurse semi-freaked out because I was still in the tub and they didn't want me to give birth in the tub so they pulled me out and I basically threw myself on the bed and started pushing. The doctor on call was Dr Fure. He is a very no-nonsense man and was taking his time. The nurses kept making me stop pushing because he wasn't ready. Finally after 15 minutes of pushing and stopping out came Charlotte perfectly red and screaming. She came out with her hand up by her head so it wasn't the most pleasant experience, but she was healthy and perfect! They have a new policy where the mom is the only one allowed to hold the baby for the first hour, so for an hour I sat holding my sweet baby as she cried and wiggled. I fed her and then they came in to give her a bath. She hated the bath. Poor thing!

We were then taken to the recovery room and it was very late/early in the morning I guess at this point! Not much sleep happened that first day. Brad went home about 5am and Charlotte and I were alone in the room. She didn't like to be put down so I held her all night. The nurses would come in and comment how perfect she was, that she was a great eater and had the most wonderful hair!

Finally the next day Ella came to meet her sister. She immediately knew it was her baby sister and wanted to hold her. Ella yelled at the nurse when she came in to take the baby's vitals and told her it was "my baby!". She held her and kissed her and then was ready to run around and get into everything in the room. Oh the life of a toddler!

We came home that Wednesday and had a nice quiet day with my mom here and Ella at daycare. When Ella got home she cuddled with me and her sister and wanted to touch and look at Charlotte. She shared her stuffed puppy and also shared her ability to cry like a baby too. Apparently when Charlotte cries Ella also needs to cry.

Well we are over a week as a family of four and it has been difficult but worth it. Charlotte is a sweet baby that is apparently a night owl who likes to make sure everyone else is awake too. Ella is having some jealousy issues but overall has been very good with her sister and with adjusting to not being an only child. So the new adventure begins!

Here are a few photos of our first week together:

One Sick Baby

Unfortunately Ella is sick. The doctor kindly told me that she isn't "too sick" but she is sick. She has a fever and upset tummy and one big case of the grumps. For the past week we have been sitting on the couch cuddling and sleeping. Her little cry and whimper breaking my heart.

How in the world do mothers handle this? I feel like I am totally unprepared to deal with it. I am extremely lucky because she has not been sick like this before, but that doesn't make it any better. Sometimes when she is crying and nothing makes her stop I just want to give her the world. By the world I mean a wet washcloth, clean diaper, hair brush, or whatever random item she clasps on to and won't let go. Yes, my child has slept with all of the above and also a wad of my hair she pulled out, a bag of Goldfish crackers, and a spoon. I don't know why she feels the need to hold on to an object while she feels sick, but she does. Very strange, but for some reason comforting.

All I have to say is that my heart goes out to mothers who have sick babies, and an extra prayer to those mothers who have "too sick" babies.

A rare not-crying photo of the patient

Mommy and Me!

For my own Mother's Day gift I decided to get professional photos of Ella and I together. I don't have many photos with my mom because she always hated the way she looked in photos. The ones I do have I love, especially the ones when I was little. Ella is growing so fast and I want to make sure that I have photos of both of us throughout her life.

I went to Memories By Aly for a mini-shoot with just the two of us and it was fun! We were freezing because of course it was the only day that week it rained. Ella is not a smiler, so a lot of the photos she isn't smiling in them but looking a little annoyed/mean mugging. Oh well - memories!

Here are a few photos:

My little girl is growing up so fast! It was around this time last year we found out we were having a girl. It was a shock since I had convinced myself she would be a boy. I believed that I would spend my life with dirty boy socks and Thomas the Train toys. In one happy moment dolls, bows, and pink came into my life and I have never been so happy! She is a pill sometimes, but I could never ask for a better gift!

Swimmy Lessons

We have been very busy lately and I haven't been able to write! I wanted to make sure that I wrote down our swim lesson experiences!

I never had swimming lessons growing up. Of course I had two lake cabins and grew up around water so swimming was just something you did. With Ella I wanted her to have that same sense of security around water so we started swimming lessons at the YMCA. I call them her "swimmy lessons" and we go every Monday.

The first lesson was less than fun. Going by yourself for with a small child is not only a little scary, but it was exhausting. When we first started she couldn't crawl so I could change her into her pink poodle swim suit and plop her down. Now that we are on our second session she has learned to crawl, therefore she has learned to CRAWL ALL OVER the gross disgusting floor. I have learned to corner her with the dressing stools on a towel. My poor child is in swim jail!

So far Ella has learned to reach for foam letters, "jump" into the pool, dunk under water, float on her back, and stare at the other kids laughing like they are nuts. She always seems so unenthused, but at the same time she doesn't act like she hates it so we keep going! My child is just very serious. Swimming is a serious activity in this household.

Here are some fun photos that we finally were able to get taken thanks to daddy taking a day off of work!

Here are the things that swimming lessons have taught us:

1. Mommy is more afraid of baby in the water than baby is.
2. Swim diapers are not made to hold pee...
3. Three towels is a must
4. Just because your child isn't smiling doesn't mean she isn't having fun
5. Do not place your child in car seat in swim diaper (see #2)
6. No one is looking at mommy in her swimsuit if you put baby in a pink poodle suit. Trust me, they aren't.
7. Naps before swim are very important. VERY important.
8. When it is cold outside the pool is warm, when it is warm outside the pool is ice cold. Go figure.
9. Babies do not mind getting a mouth full of water
10. You will look like an idiot singing in a circle with your baby, but see #6

So fun! I highly recommend swim lessons. People always look at me strangely when I saw we take swim lessons, but it is really just something for mommy/daddy to do with baby and a good way to get baby to get used to the water. Plus, HELLO pink poodle swimsuit!

Sleeping is for losers and other fun times...

Ella would like to say that sleeping is for losers. All cool kids know that waking up all the time is awesome. You should all try it sometime. It makes for a super grumpy mommy, squealy baby, and a frustrated daddy. Or you know...be a loser...and sleep. That's cool too.

So needless to say, sleeping is not really happening in our house and hasn't been since about February. Fun times. I've read a ton of books and blogs and asked for what other people have done and then I came to the conclusion that I have no idea what I'm doing so I'll just wait it out a little bit longer and try again. That's all I'm going to say about that, and I feel that helps to describe why I haven't been blogging lately.

Since Ella is now HALF A YEAR OLD I thought it would be fun to do a list of her top 10's. Here they are, Ella's top 10 things!

10. Bouncing up the stairs at night time.
9. Singing head and shoulders
8. Playing in the exersaucer
7. Jumping up and down on the bed
6. When daddy comes home
5. Bath time aka make a big wet splashy mess time
4. Daddy kisses on the tummy
3. Chewing on things - everything really
2. Rolling around the floor
1. Boobs

So yeah...boobs still win out. Here are her least favorite top 10 items

10. Getting in the carseat
9. Socks
8. When something inhibits rolling all over the floor
7. Those bumpy things on the cement in the doorway of Costco (the cart going over that is not cool)
6. Pickaboo that goes WAY too long
5. Putting on a onesie
4. Getting out of the bathtub
3. Whenever mommy leaves the room
2. Feeling hungry
1. Sleeping at night

So that is what is happening in baby land! Hooray for this kiddo!

Playtime

Before I was a mom I would get really hurt when my friends would refer to their "mommy friends". What was I "childless friend" "married but not procreating friend" "selfish career working friend"? Why the categories? It wasn't until I was a stay at home mom, lonely, and in desperate need of someone who knew what I was going through to talk with. I tried with my other "childless friends" but it is hard. I think looking in you think that being a parent can't be that hard. Sure there is poop, crying, throw up...but the emotional toll it can take is something very different. I can't really describe it, but at the same time my "childless friends" are actually the people I like to spend more time with. It reminds me that I once was a normal person that did not have to worry about smelling like sour milk. Oh and also it is nice to NOT talk about babies for once...go figure. So even though I enjoy my time with my "childless friends" I know that I need to branch out if not just for my sanity but for Ella to meet other kids.

Well in my attempt to find "mommy friends" in the community known for their social freeze (Seattle is very well known for not being openly friendly...just trust me on this), I joined a mom group.

Yesterday Ella and I attended our first playgroup. It was at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park. It was a zoo. Tons of kids of all ages and moms, dads, grandmas, pretty much everyone! I was going to be a part of a mom group in my area, but when I got there I had no idea where I was or who to talk to. I felt like the first day of school.

In 6th grade I moved to a new school and that first day was one of the most frightening things I've ever done. You don't know anyone, and at first it is okay because you have assigned seats and everyone introduces themselves, but then recess and lunch happens. I skipped the assigned seats at the mom group and went straight into recess but now I had a small child attached to me. I'm not saying people weren't nice, but if it weren't for the fact that my child has only been around two other children, each for only a few hours, I would have ran away.

I found a spot next to two moms of similar aged babies, but talking was impossible with the loud and busy children running around. I kept looking at Ella because the other babies were fussy or unhappy. What was my Ella doing? She was sitting there smiling. She apparently loves other children. This is a blessing and curse, because while mommy wants her to be social, mommy herself had a slight panic attack with the sticky and smelling toddlers that were rushing around her.

Story time and songs then started, which is always Ella's favorite things. I moved her hands with the songs and she smiled and laughed as little my little the other small babies left to go home. We were there the whole time and Ella was happy and excited. I have a little social butterfly I guess!

I met the organizer of our mom group, but when I introduced myself she had a blank look like she had no idea I would be there. The 6th grader in me wanted to run and hide, she wasn't even expecting me? Ugh. I think it must not have been the best first time mommy experience. I'm proud that I forced myself for Ella's sake, I just know that mommy herself needs to learn to let go of the scared 6th grader and learn to find friend at recess.

Needless to say...I think we have a lot more baby dates in the future.

Doctors Appointment and Shots - oh my!

Ella had her four month appointment earlier this week which is always a very difficult thing for me. Our doctor is a wonderful Russian woman and I love her dearly, but Ella is not so sure. This appointment she was 14lbs 6oz and 25 inches. She is long and skinny, just like her daddy! She may actually surpass my height one day! At the appointment she cried and cried and the doctor said that she is showing signs of separation anxiety which is very normal, but apparently three months ahead of schedule! The whole time the doctor held her Ella just started at me and cried. I wonder if other stay at home mothers find their little ones have the same issue?

She received her four month shots after the appointment. Brad was supposed to take a number and ring the little door bell. He didn't ring the door bell so we were sitting there for a half an hour before someone else came and took a number and rang the bell. Good to know...

Ella of course hated her shots and cried and cried, but then was fine and took a nap on the way home. We thought she did really well until she woke up at 2am with a very high fever. She was crying and very upset so Brad gave her Tylenol and she went back to sleep.

Due to the crazy snow storm we had Brad went to work later in the day, but by noon I was calling him because Ella's fever was back. Here is the thing. I'm not good with sickness, not even my own. I think it is a result of my webmd addiction. I think everything is extremely awful and we are all going to die. That is rarely the case as my level headed Pharmacist husband has to remind me. After waiting on hold with the nurse hot line, Brad looked up what to do and I changed her into lighter clothing and then gave her Tylenol.

Now this would be the end of the story if I were a normal person, but unfortunately I am a scatterbrain clumsy person. While giving her the Tylenol I had her on the floor in the living room and put the bottle next to me. In inevitably knocked over said bottle of bright orange Tylenol. On the carpet. Hooray. So yesterday my living room carpet got a nice steam clean. There is still a little spot but since my carpet is dark I am the only one that is staring at it constantly. A nice reminder that giving a child liquid Tylenol should be done on a solid surface. Boo. Brad needs to buy more Tylenol since an entire bottle is now making sure that my living room carpet is fever and headache free...oh motherhood!

Snow!

It snowed yesterday, and this morning it SNOWED. It is so pretty and fluffy that it reminds me of when I was little waking up to the bright morning light that only can come from a heavy dusting. Ella watched the thick snowflakes fall in amazement and it was wonderful and fun! She showed her the snow and let her feel it. She cried. Yeah, mom just likes to look at it and not touch it too.

Oh dear...4MW

Ella has been having a rough time sleeping. That is an understatement. She apparently has decided that sleeping is under-rated and wants to wake up every hour from 3am until 7am. Fun, fun. Apparently there is a thing called Four Month Wakeful. They are so aware and awake throughout the day that night time is very difficult. Many think it is because they don't eat well in the day and make up for it at night, others that they need to be sleep trained to figure out how to put themselves back to sleep. Either way, it sucks and makes you want to cry. Okay it makes me want to cry.

Last night she slept a little better, but still up a few times, which for her is bad. At 5am I was up feeding her. My first response is to get super angry because I hate having to wake up. It was when I was feeling sorry for myself when she reached up and grabbed my finger with her hand and squeezed. It was such a small thing, but it was as if she was saying "Thanks for being here mommy." Anytime little one. Anytime.